Chechen wood: working qualities ?

7 years ago

I bought some turning blanks in Chechen wood and mahogany. They have a square profile. I will need to cut to length, round the edges and ends, then drill through the pieces to run a wire rod through. I am not trying to make them into full rounds; something like an octagonal profile will work.

I want to make handles for a couple of teapots I am making from pottery (I take pottery classes for fun during the winter). I don’t make teapot handles from clay because a clay handle does not last 5 minutes in my house. I know you can buy ready made teapot handles, but after an extensive search, all I can find are bamboo or rattan. Those are too traditional to go with these very modern tea pots.

So, think pail bail, but with a handle made of nice dark wood that will match the dark brown clay I am using.

Like these: not my work, but the only picture I could find:

https://www.sarahpikepottery.com/teapots

Not as chunky though.

I will need to do the filing/roughing by hand. Then I can sand with a rotary / belt sander and drill with a drill press.

I am asking about the working qualities/hardness because of all the hand work needed. Thanks!

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Comments (5)

toxcrusadr
7 years ago
There are several woods with similar names - chechen is aka chechem, and there is a chenchen.

Here is the best wood info guide I have found, thanks to another poster on this forum:

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/

Scroll down to the alphabet and click C.

If it is chechem, here is that page:

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/chechem.htm

Click on the 'partial fact sheet' button to get a guide with its working properties.

Post a pic if you can. Very unusual wood I have not heard of before - but there are hundreds.
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago) thanked toxcrusadr
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Those are REALLY outstanding pictures! Thank you! When I was looking it up yesterday, I saw it under several names. Chechen was how the shop I bought it from named it. I had not heard of it before either. I wanted a dark wood as the pottery will fire to very dark brown (I am planning to glaze only the inside). I had walnut in mind when I went in but they didn't have any. I'm sure this will be more interesting: as long as I can work it.

What I bought were 1" turning blanks. They are pretty roughly sawn but I still could see the noticeable darker and lighter streaks. I chose ones with straight grain; some had bends and waves but they were inconsistent in each 1 foot length, so I opted for well marked straight grain. It looks just like the wood on the Chechem page.
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toxcrusadr
7 years ago
I hope we can see a pic of the finished product!
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
7 years ago
Sure: if I get it done! Making the handle is one more complication. But nice looking, NON traditional handles are impossible to find.
John Doe
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Well, I can say it looks perfect. I'm wondering where to find this. It's too late to buy it now - I bought some wood last month, but I want to know, where to buy this "chechen" wood just in case. By the way, this wood can be used in high humidity environment? And if not, maybe it needs finish wood for waterproof? I use for this purpose stuff from the site one of my friends recommended to me earlier. There was a lot of information about it and it was all true. At least, I don't have any problems with my bathroom furniture I did on my own.